A Classic Retelling of Cosmic Conflict

The Singer Trilogy

The Singer quickly became a favorite of evangelists, pastors, artists, students, teachers and readers of all sorts when it was originally published in 1975. Retelling the story of Christ through an allegorical and poetic narrative of a Singer whose Song could not be silenced, Miller's work reinvigorated Christian literature and offered believers and seekers the world over a deeply personal encounter with the gospel.

This edition features a new cover illustration by Jerry Tiritilli to complement the classic interior illustrations by Joe DeVelasco. Miller also includes a new preface in which he reveals how he came to write The Singer and how he, like so many other readers, has been transformed by its imaginative power.

"The Singer is one of a handful of contemporary Christian works that will still be read a century from now." Michael Duduit, editor of Preaching"The Singer is one of those rare books that cannot have enough good said about it. It absolutely sings to us of the greatness and goodness of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Richard Foster, author of Celebration of Discipline"The Singer is a classic." Leonard Sweet, author of SoulTsunami

Here—again, or for the first time—is the opportunity to experience the good news as you are drawn to and immersed in this magnificent tale.

"For decades The Singer has done the one thing most necessary: to make Jesus himself accessible and attractive in ways that stick in the mind and soul, so that he can do his work of renewing the life of God in the individual. Calvin Miller's great gift is to sing Jesus powerfully, to the blessing of our generation and those to come."

Dallas Willard, author of The Divine Conspiracy

"We read The Singer together soon after it first came out. It was more than a breath of fresh air--it led us into a new dimension in our understanding of the reality of Jesus Christ and of all that he can mean to us."

Dr. Paul and Margaret Brand

"When I was a young questor, I found in a university bookstore a trilogy of books that impacted my life so deeply that--twenty-five years later--I find myself still quoting lines and discussing concepts of truth from them. Literature like The Singer Trilogy will live--like Milton's Paradise Lost and James Weldon Johnson's God's Trombones.The Singer must never be allowed to be out of print. Every generation needs to read it."

Gloria Gaither, recording artist

"Dylan Thomas said that 'a poet is a poet for such a very tiny bit of his life; for the rest he is a human being, one of whose responsibilities is to know and feel, as much as he can, all that is moving around and within him.' When Calvin Miller's narrative poem The Singer arrived in 1975, so distinct in imagination and style, I was amazed at its strangeness, originality, power and vividness. In form, the Troubadour's story was fine and open and organic--an absolutely brilliant retelling of the Gospels. In the intervening years, as I have come to know Miller as a friend and fellow traveler, I have often been amazed at the range of his knowing and feeling humanity. Miller?s mind is quick and witty and full of electrical insight, and his spirit is generous. Here are twenty-five years worth of congratulations to Miller for The Singer and his other wonderful published works, but mostly here are congratulations to Calvin Miller. He is truly a gift from the Earthmaker."

Leonard G. Goss, editor, Broadman Holman

"Has The Singer impacted my life? You might say that. Though it has been a quarter of a century, I can remember where I was when I received it (in a parked car on a college campus). I remember the weather (bright spring afternoon). And I remember the joy, as the prose and passion of Miller's heart came alive. Within weeks the book was dog-eared and well worn. Through it Miller showed more than a fresh way to work with words; he showed a fresh way to look at Christ. To him, for that, I am eternally grateful. Has The Singer impacted my life? I suppose you could say that."

Max Lucado, author of Just Like Jesus

"The Singer refreshes the old story with new insights and deep emotions. . . . My heart was moved; my mind was stretched; my soul was blessed."

Leith Anderson, pastor of Wooddale Church

"Calvin Miller--how beautiful a singer. How timeless, and lovely, a song."

Kelly Monroe, author of Finding God at Harvard

"The Singer was my first Calvin Miller book. I was hooked. Each page seemed to explode with a fresh combination of poetic energy and gospel aliveness. Every book I've read since (and I think I've read them all) deepens my appreciation."

Eugene H. Peterson, translator of The Message

"The Singer was not simply a book for me. It was an event. It was the first demonstration in our time that the gospel could be newly presented to the world at the level of the imagination. It deserves to be called the first true Christian classic of our generation."

Michael Card, recording artist

"It must be true that poetry--or song--is the required vehicle of intimate communication with or about God! If so, that is part of the power that gripped me when I first opened Calvin Miller's The Singer."

Donald Joy, adjunct professor, Asbury Theological Seminary

"The Singer is one of those books that expands my mind, explodes my imagination and excites my heart. Our Lord becomes so refreshingly real that I see him so personally. The years haven't diminished its power in my life."

Warren Wiersbe, author of Preaching and Teaching with Imagination

"The Singer is one of those rare books that cannot have enough good said about it. It absolutely sings to us of the greatness and goodness of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Richard Foster, author of Celebration of Discipline

"It is no surprise to me that Calvin Miller's The Singer has captured the hearts and imaginations of so many over the past twenty-five years. When I first read it (in manuscript), I knew at once that this was a story/song for the ages, with its vivid details and its skillful knots and weavings of profound truth into words. And as a poet, my heart was gladdened to know that nonreaders of poetry were being welcomed into this poetic masterpiece, were entering and reading it with delight!"

Luci Shaw, author of Water My Soul

"A great surprise came when I first read The Singer in manuscript: here was a magnificent, original, poetic, emotionally charged retelling of the greatest story ever told. A joy to read then and to reread now!"

James W. Sire, author of The Universe Next Door

"The Singer is a classic. It stands as one of the greatest exercises in 'sound theology' in Christian history. Calvin Miller was of 'sound mind' long before the rest of us."

Leonard Sweet, author of SoulTsunami

"Calvin Miller is the poet laureate of today's evangelical world, and The Singer is among his most remarkable literary works. Miller has something profound to say, and he says it beautifully. The Singer is one of a handful of contemporary Christian works that will still be read a century from now."

Michael Duduit, editor of Preaching

"For twenty-five years the voice of The Singer has echoed through the land, resonating in thousands of hearts and minds. Calvin Miller has discovered in the Singer's voice the mystery of the Deepest Song--that the One who sang the world into being is in the process of singing the world together. And he invites us to sing along."

Reg Grant, author of Storm

"The Singer left an imprint of joy on my life twenty-five years ago. I enthusiastically endorse this 25th anniversary edition. Calvin Miller's work is a definitive illustration of God's ongoing creativity through a believing artist and gives cause for new celebration in the year 2001."

Jeannette Clift George, author of John, His Story

"The Singer not only gives a fresh and insightful portrait of Christ the 'Troubador,' it continues to set the pace for books that engage both the imagination and the soul."

Marshall Shelley, editor of Leadership

"The Singer was a groundbreaking book, and I'm delighted to see its reintroduction."

CONTENTS

Preface to the 25th Anniversary Edition
1. For Most Who Live, Hell Is Never Knowing Who They Are
2. It Is Strange How Oftentimes the Air Speaks
3. Two Artists Met One Time Within a Little Wood
4. I Knew a Blind Man Whom a Surgeon Helped to See
5. Hate Sometimes Stands Quite Close to Love
6. If She Has Loved Him, a Man Will Carry Anything for His Mother--a Waterpot or a World
7. Before the Song
8. It Is Always Much More Difficult to Sing When the Audience Has Turned Its Back
9. A Healthy Child Is Somehow Very Much Like God; a Hurting Child, His Son
10. The Word Crying Does Not Appear in the Lexicon of Heaven
11. Oftentimes Love Is So Poorly Packaged . . .
12. In Hell There Is No Music
13. No Person Ever Is So Helpless As the Man in Whom Joy and Misery Sleep Comfortably Together
14. To God Obscenity Is Not Uncovered Flesh; It Is Exposed Intention
15. Humanity Is Fickle
16. God Is an Old, Old Habit
17. A Finale Is Not Always the Best Song But It Is Always the Last
18. Vengeance/Mercy
19. Institutions Have a Poor Safety Record
20. A Child Who Cries at the Coffin of His Father . . .
21. Decision Is the Key to Desiny
22. When God Loses His Beloved . . .
23. What Would You Like to Be When You Grow Up, Little Girl?
24. Every Constellation Is But a Gathering of Distant Suns

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Calvin Miller (1936–2012) was a professor at Beeson Divinity School. The beloved author of more than forty books, Miller was also well known as a poet, artist, novelist, and speaker. His later works included Preaching (Baker), O Shepherd Where Art Thou? (Broadman & Holman), and Conversations with Jesus (Harvest House). He summed up his rule of life in four words: "Time is a gift."